Ken de la Bastide: VanAlst to make 1st Xfinity Series start at Atlanta
Apr. 25—It had to be a weekend of mixed emotions for Anderson resident Greg VanAlst.
VanAlst went to Talladega Super Speedway with the poinst lead for the ARCA Menard Series after winning at Daytona and a top-10 run at Phoenix.
VanAlst was racing in the top 10 until what has become an unfortunate pattern when he was taken out by another driver's mistake.
The car of Amber Balcaen slowed with a mechanical problem on Lap 15. VanAlst, with a strong run, drove to the low groove when another car turned into his Chevrolet.
The contact sent VanAlst into the outside retaining wall and resulted in a last-place finish.
But over the same weekend, it was announced VanAlst will make his NASCAR Xfinity debut in July at Atlanta for Alpha Prime Racing.
Since the Atlanta track races like Daytona and Talladega, it's an excellent opportunity for VanAlst to put together a strong run.
The next race for ARCA is at Kansas on May 6.
OTHER RACING NEWS
The IndyCar Series will be in action this weekend at Alabama's Barber Motorsports Park.
It's the last race before the series returns to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the month of May with the grand prix on the road course and the Indianapolis 500.
There have been three winners this season with defending Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson winning at St. Petersburg, Florida. He is leading the points standings over Pato O'Ward and Alex Palou.
Kyle Kirkwood won at Long Beach, California, and Josef Newgarden won at the Texas Oval.
Newgarden has three victories at Barber.
The three most recent winners are O'Ward, Palou and Takuma Sato.
There's a good chance a fourth IndyCar winner this year will emerge after the weekend.
Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.
